Utah Symphony Music Director Thierry Fischer leads the National Orchestra Institute in rehearsal at the Dessaix Baptiste Music School in Jacmel during last year's Institute.

BLUME Haiti board members Janet Anthony and Scott Harrison head to Cap-Haïtien on March 26-30, 2018 for the second National Orchestra Institute, presented by BLUME Haiti in collaboration with the Musicians of the Utah Symphony. The first Institute, held last March at the Dessaix-Baptiste Music School in Jacmel, was an unprecedented gathering of over 100 of Haiti’s finest young musicians from 19 schools, the first such national convening of orchestral musicians. After the final concert, planning immediately began for this second installment, which will be hosted by CEMUCHCA, one of BLUME Haiti’s longstanding partner schools.

​This year 17 Utah Symphony musicians return, plus colleagues from the Cleveland Orchestra and Youngstown Symphony, for coaching and masterclasses, with orchestral rehearsals and the final concert once again led by the Utah Symphony’s music director, renowned Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer. Two Salt Lake City-based luthiers will provide string repair training, Haitian conductor Pierre Leroy will assist, and Harrison will lead arts administration seminars to round out the instruction. The final concert will be held on Friday, March 30 at the Haitian Evangelical Church in Cap-Haïtien, with a program featuring Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony and more.

The Institute was envisioned by Utah Symphony cellist John Eckstein after he and his Symphony colleagues Yuki MacQueen and James Hall joined Anthony for a summer of teaching in 2016 at the Holy Trinity Music School summer camp in Cange, a trip that inspired him to work with BLUME to create the first Institute. “We are all excited to continue the work we started in 2017” said Eckstein. “The students were selected by audition this year because of high demand, and will include many participants from last year as well as some new faces. Our goal is to create an opportunity that hasn't previously been available in Haiti, and that is worthy of their talent and dedication. It is an honor to help them.”

“Music is a key pillar of cultural expression in Haiti; indeed, we have seen over and over again the transformative power of music and know what an impact the Haitian National Orchestra Institute will have on the lives of the participants,” said Anthony. “It is an honor for BLUME Haiti to partner with the Utah Symphony and our Haitian colleagues, as we work together to create an opportunity to transform young lives, to do our part to offer the possibility of change in the life trajectories of our Haitian students.”

Visit our donation page to make a gift in support of the National Orchestra Institute and all of BLUME Haiti’s music education efforts throughout Haiti.